The one scene Ben Stiller regrets shooting: “Nobody told me that at the time”
During the Hollywood comedy boom of the 2000s, few stars soared as high as Ben Stiller. From cult classics like Zoolander, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and Tropic Thunder to family-friendly hits like the Madagascar and Night at the Museum series, Stiller established himself as one of the most reliable and bankable names among big-screen funnymen.
One of Stiller’s more frequent collaborators during this era was writer and director John Hamburg. Hamburg wrote the screenplay for the original Zoolander and Meet the Parents, the latter of which famously featured Robert De Niro. He also penned Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers—though perhaps we can skip over those for now. Hamburg made his directorial debut with the 2004 romantic comedy Along Came Polly, starring Stiller and Jennifer Aniston in the lead roles.
Reuben Feffer (Stiller) is a cautious, risk-averse man, while Polly Prince (Aniston) embraces a life of unpredictability and spontaneity. I’m sure you can probably guess where this is going. The film received decent reviews and proved to be a surprising box office hit, paving the way for Hamburg’s directorial career to take off. However, there’s one scene in the movie that one of its stars might prefer to be erased from memory.
Speaking to the BBC ahead of the movie’s release, Stiller was asked about a scene right at the end of the movie. In the sequence, to show he has become more carefree since meeting Polly, Reuben gets naked on a beach and strolls happily into the water. “The scene was very quick to do,” Stiller said. “John promised me that he would cut it out of the movie if it didn’t get a laugh. But to this day I still don’t know if it gets a laugh because I’ve never stayed long enough to see it. Also, I was told later on that I could have had a double. But nobody told me that at the time.”
That wasn’t the only moment that challenged Stiller on the set of this movie. To show how ‘wild’ and ‘kooky’ she is, Polly has a pet ferret, which turns out to be a source of trouble for both Reuben and the actor playing him. “I got bitten by him at one point, so I had to get a rabies shot and a tetanus shot,” Stiller revealed. “Then I talked about it on a talk show in the United States. I jokingly said I didn’t like ferrets, and I got sent about a thousands [sic] emails about how ferrets are wonderful. The ferret people are very touchy.”
The actor then confirmed his feelings about the animals, saying, “I don’t have a problem with ferrets – it’s the ferret owners that can be dangerous.”
The members of the so-called ‘Frat Pack’ were more than used to embarrassing themselves on camera during this time period. One only has to picture Will Ferrell licking a dog turd in Step Brothers before collapsing in on themselves with cringe. Nudity, however, can be a sore spot for actors, especially if they realise after the fact that they didn’t even need to do it.
Fortunately for Stiller, Along Came Polly is a relatively obscure title in his filmography. He is remembered far more frequently for his more serious movie moments – like watching Cameron Diaz get ‘gel’ stuck in her hair.
